It is doubtless very desirable, that private persons should have a correct knowledge of their personal interests; but it must be infinitely more so, that governments should possess that knowledge. Jean-Baptiste Say More Quotes by Jean-Baptiste Say More Quotes From Jean-Baptiste Say It is the aim of good government to stimulate production, of bad government to encourage consumption. Jean-Baptiste Say consumption aim government The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield. Jean-Baptiste Say creative-destruction yield entrepreneur The manner in which things exist and take place, constitutes what is called the nature of things; and a careful observation of the nature of things is the sole foundation of all truth. Jean-Baptiste Say foundation nature truth One product is always ultimately bought with another, even when paid for in the first instance with money. Jean-Baptiste Say instance paid firsts Every individual, from the common mechanic, that works in wood or clay, to the prime minister that regulates with the dash of his pen the agriculture, the breeding of cattle, the mining, or the commerce of a nation, will perform his business the better, the better he understands the nature of things,and the more his understanding is enlightened. Jean-Baptiste Say agriculture woods understanding I have made no distinction between the circulation of goods and of money, because there really is none. Jean-Baptiste Say goods distinction made Supply creates its own demand. Jean-Baptiste Say supply-and-demand economics demand Demand and supply are the opposite extremes of the beam, whence depend the scales of dearness and cheapness; the price is the point of equilibrium, where the momentum of the one ceases, and that of the other begins. Jean-Baptiste Say momentum demand opposites Nothing is more dangerous in practice, than an obstinate, unbending adherence to a system, particularly in its application to the wants and errors of mankind. Jean-Baptiste Say errors practice want And let no government imagine, that, to strip them of the power of defrauding their subjects, is to deprive them of a valuable privilege. A system of swindling can never be long lived, and must infallibly in the end produce much more loss than profit. Jean-Baptiste Say government loss long The difficulty lies, not in finding a producer, but in finding a consumer. Jean-Baptiste Say difficulty producers lying Alas, how many have been persecuted for the wrong of having been right? Jean-Baptiste Say alas persecuted wisdom All travellers agree that protestant are both richer and more populous than catholic countries;and the reason is, because the habits of the former are more conducive to production. Jean-Baptiste Say catholic reason country Taxation being a burthen, must needs weigh lightest on each individual, when it bears upon all alike. Jean-Baptiste Say taxation bears needs Capital in the hands of a national government forms a part of the gross national capital. Jean-Baptiste Say form government hands Dominion by land or sea will appear equally destitute of attraction, when it comes to be generally understood, that all its advantages rest with the rulers, and that the subjects at large derive no benefit whatever. Jean-Baptiste Say dominion land sea regulation is useful and proper, when aimed at the prevention of fraud or contrivance, manifestly injurious to other kinds of production, or to the public safety, and not at prescribing the nature of the products and the methods of fabrication. Jean-Baptiste Say prevention regulation safety Opulent, civilized, and industrious nations, are greater consumers than poor ones, because they are infinitely greater producers. Jean-Baptiste Say consumers poor producers All those who, since Adam Smith, have turned their attention to Political Economy, agree that in reality we do not buy articles of consumption with money, the circulating medium with which we pay for them. We must in the first instance have bought this money itself by the sale of our produce. Jean-Baptiste Say political wisdom reality When war becomes a trade, it benefits, like all other trades, from the division of labour. Jean-Baptiste Say division benefits war
